East Baton Rouge Parish (EBRP) Mayor-President candidate Nathaniel Hearn.
When this blog was formed nine years ago, founder Robert Burns made a firm commitment to himself that he would refrain from ever criticizing any other bloggers, and he has lived up to that commitment and will continue to do so for the duration of this blog’s existence.
Accordingly, our feature today will not be an attack against The Hayride but rather a mere statement of fact of a published statement made in this July 22, 2024 feature in which publisher Scott McKay indicates that EBRP Mayor-President candidate Nathaniel Hearn “appears” to be a plant for incumbent Sharon Weston Broome whose purpose is to siphon away St. George votes from challenger Ted James. From the feature:
But can he (candidate Sid Edwards) win? Well, there are three other Republican candidates in the race. One, 30-year-old Nathaniel Hearn, appears to be a plant from Sharon Broome who’s intended to siphon St. George voters off James – a project which would be obsolete should Edwards mount a real campaign.
On Monday, September 16, 2024, Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns encountered Hearn, and he provided him with the opportunity to respond to The Hayride’s claim. Let’s see what he had to say:
9/16/24: Hearn responds to The Hayride’s claim that he is a “plant” of Sharon Weston Broome whose mission is to siphon off St. George votes from Broome’s Democratic challenger, Ted James.
In the above video, Burns also asked Hearn for his thoughts on one of his Republican opponents, legendary high school football coach Sid Edwards, and the fact that The Hayride and Woody Jenkins’ adherents have strongly endorsed Edwards notwithstanding his past history of not voting in a single election over the last 8 1/2 years!
Many folk in and around the Baton Rouge area may have noticed Hearn’s commercials that ran during the September 10, 2024 debate between former President Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. For those who may have missed it, here’s that ad:
Hearn’s TV ad attacking opponent Sid Edwards for failing to vote in the last 8 1/2 years.
In this Advocate article, Sid Edwards did readily admit that the Hearn accusation in the above ad is true, and he indicated that’s he’s taken, “calls from people upset about it.” From the previously-linked article:
Edwards said he has not voted because he became disillusioned by the political scene. While some might find his decision not to vote for so long concerning, he calls his decision to get involved now his “most important” one.
After qualifying for the election in July, Edwards quickly garnered support from the local arm of the GOP, securing an endorsement from the East Baton Rouge Parish Republican Party, chaired by former state Rep. Woody Jenkins.
When asked about his lack of voting, he says he grew “apolitical,” and instead decided his focus on bettering the lives of the players he coaches would be his contribution to making a difference rather than participating in elections.
“I just said, ‘OK, this is my contribution to the world and is what I’m gonna do,'” he said. “I just feel I represent the millions of people out there who gave up on the political system because it’s so corrupt and filled with false promises.”
Edwards has been a registered voter in East Baton Rouge Parish since 1995, records show. The last election of any kind he participated in was the 2016 March primary, but he did not vote in the November election that was headlined by Donald Trump’s win over Hillary Clinton.
Since then, Edwards sat out 25 elections.
Incumbent Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome and Ted James — both Democrats who have held office for at least a decade in their careers — have voted in nearly all 60-plus elections on record going back to 1999.
The coach said his lack of participation was a conscious decision, but recently, he changed his mind and decided he might be the best person to lead the parish.
“I got disgusted with the stuff that was going on. (Whether) it was the right decision or wrong decision,” Edwards said. “But at some point, you know, we can’t turn over the government to people with the wrong values … (you) have to get involved.”
Edwards, who is one of three Republicans in the race alongside Steve Myers and Hearn, said Thursday he was aware of the ad criticizing him and received calls from people upset about it.
“I haven’t ran from it … I mean, (Hearn) didn’t tell a lie,” he said about the ad. “But he didn’t tell the why.”
Being blunt, we at Sound Off Louisiana could care less about the “why!” We want to thank Nathaniel Hearn for exposing this fact about candidate Sid Edwards because it has flipped our decision of whom we support.
Founder Robert Burns is an avid football fan and, until only a few years ago, would pick out what he figured would be the best high school football game each weekend and attend it, and that often meant driving to Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans or to Joe Yenni Stadium in Metairie (one time when the temperature was below freezing for a John Curtis game, but we’ll admit Burns did abandon that game as it was both freezing cold and rain began to fall). Some of those games were coached by Sid Edwards.
So, sorry coach, we agree with Hearn: “If you don’t practice, you can’t play.” Our endorsement goes to Nathaniel Hearn and we again thank him for exposing this major flaw we see in Edwards’ candidacy!
Again, this feature is not a slam against The Hayride, but we cannot join McKay, Jenkins, and others in support of Edwards. Our vote goes to Hearn!